SpaceX shares slipped for a third straight day, shedding hundreds of billions of dollars in market value, after the Elon Musk-led company said it is selling investment-grade bonds for the first time, part of what’s expected to be a massive borrowing spree to fund its artificial-intelligence ambitions.
The stock fell 16% Monday to close at $154.60, the lowest level since the company’s first day of trading, pushing its three-day loss to 23% and erasing over $600 billion in value over that period. The company’s market capitalization now sits just above $2 trillion.
“Sellers are back in control. Anyone in the world who wanted to buy this has bought it already,” said Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at JonesTrading.
SpaceX’s first days of trading following its record $75 billion initial public offering were met with the type of volatility generally associated with new IPOs that have a low float — 4.2% of total shares outstanding were available to trade on day one — and high interest from retail investors. Still, even with Monday’s losses, SpaceX is the sixth-largest company in the world with shares about 15% higher than their $135 IPO price.
